Not So Short After All
by Muriella
Summary: Summary: What if Bree Tanner's second life wasn't so short after all? What if the Volturi didn't kill her straight away, but gave her a second change? This is Bree's story, and while it remains as canon as possible to the original storyline, it takes a l
1. Epilogue

_A/N: This story is sort of a variation from "Eclipse" and "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner", both by Stephenie Meyer. Reading the Bree Novella by SM is pretty much essential in order to understand this story, as it contains numerous references to the books. _

_Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight world with all its characters. I receive no benefits (other than my own pleasure) from this story._

**Prologue**

"_Take care of that, Felix," Jane said indifferently, nodding at me. "I want to go home."_

"_Don't watch," the redheaded mind reader whispered._

_I closed my eyes._

_-The Short Second Life Of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer, p.178 – _

I waited for the pain, but this time it never came. Not daring to open my eyes, I kept my crouching position, still waiting.

Then I heard the mind reader speak again. His voice was urgent, with a hint of desperation.

"Jane, Felix, wait!"

"This is better be good, my _friend_," Jane spat. Felix – that seemed to be the name of the monster of a man in the dark cloak – didn't release the hold he had on my shirt, but he did stop doing from whatever he was planning on doing.

"It is! Jane, she has a _talent!_" Okay, so now I was a little insulted. The redhead clearly said that just to try and save my miserable butt, but still, did he have sound so _astonished_? I wasn't stupid or completely without skills; I think that the fact I was still alive was proof of it.

"Really, now?" Jane didn't sound impressed in the slightest. "And what, pray tell, might that be?"

I opened my eyes and tried to glance around inconspicuously. Felix was still grabbing my collar, but had turned his enormous head towards Jane and the others. I did the same.

Jane looked bored – that seemed to be the only human expression she was capable of.

"I –I don't know yet," he said quietly. "But it definitely is there – she's still too young to recognize it herself, so I don't know exactly what it is – only that it is a potentially very powerful gift."

Jane looked the same as I felt: dubious. I was certain the redhead was making this up as he went, although I couldn't fathom why he would bother. The thought of me having some kind of magical super-talent was ludicrous – I was sure that had I really possessed something as powerful as mind reading for example, I would have figured out Riley's lies right away and found a way save myself. And Diego.

I felt a painful jolt of longing when I thought about Diego. Had there really been a way to save him? What if I really had some kind of power, but had been too stupid to get a hang on to it before? But what about Freaky Fred? He wasn't much older than I was but had figured out his special ability almost instantly. No. It was impossible.

Nevertheless, if this lie would be the one that saved me from death – the second and the final one, for sure – then I would go with it.

Anyway, it seemed too soon to feel relief yet, as Jane was still looking the mind reader in disbelief.

"Do you think I was turned yesterday?" she asked him with her childish voice. "I don't know why you bother defending that," – she gestured at my direction with her head – "but I really don't have time to stay and find out either." She raised her hand and pointed at me, looking at her companion. "Felix –"

"What about Aro?"

Jane let out an irritated snarl and turned back to the yellow-eyes.

"_What?"_

"What if her talent is something he would have been interested about – surely you know how intrigued he is about my ability? Or Alice's."

Jane's expression was positively lethal now. I could tell that she didn't like where this discussion was heading, but couldn't ignore it anymore, either.

"Yes. I know."

"Are you really willing to risk...upsetting him?" I didn't know who this "Aro" was, but judging by the shiver that went through all four with the grey coats, I reckoned he was somebody even _more _powerful. Maybe I was good not knowing him. I silently cheered for the redhead. He had obviously pulled from the right string.

"Do you honestly suggest that I drag this _infant _with all its tantrums and uncontrollable impulses back to Italy with me, just so that Aro can have his fun? Assuming that I don't kill it myself before we get there?"

"I suggest that we bring her to Italy when she has passed her newborn phase." That was Carlisle. Only now did I realize that no one else had taken a part in discussion before. I didn't know the yellow-eyes, but based on my observations in this short time there was no hesitation as to which coven I would rather follow. Even with the scary blond guy, Jasper, I felt that first time after Diego I could really trust someone.

"And how do I know that you won't turn her mind against Volturi like you have done with your other _children_?" Jane spat out the last word with a mocking sneer.

"I have done no such thing," Carlisle replied calmly. "Aro is my oldest friend and the differences in our life styles and opinions in certain matters don't change that fact. What my son – my family – is offering is a _favour_ to the Volturi."

Jane didn't say anything, her face remaining inexpressive, so he continued.

"Jasper here has experience with newly turned vampires – we would return her back to Aro as fully trained, well controlled and useful immortal."

"And no doubt, vegetarian," Jane added sourly, but didn't look like she was planning to kill me anymore. Right now, anyway.

"She would of course have to adjust into our life style while staying with us," the patriarch answered evenly.

Jane seemed to contemplate all that for a short moment. I stole a glance to the mind reader's direction to get a clue about the outcome of this. To my utter astonishment, he winked at me. It was so quick and inconspicuous that I almost missed it. His expression remained the same and his hand continued stroking the girl's lower back. I noticed that the girl was looking straight at me and when she got my eye, she smiled at me shyly. What was wrong with this human? My throat was burning and now the sweetness of her blood hit me again with full force. The distraction was gone and the only thing that kept me in my place was Felix's tight grip on my shirt. I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from snarling. I really didn't want to draw Jane's attention back to myself.

"Fine." Jane spoke again. "You will have one year to train her and to uncover her hidden talent, if there really is such a thing. Bear in mind – if she turns out to be just another mindless newborn, we _will _dispose of her and punish the one that has led us wrong." She narrowed her eyes at the mind reader. "If you, however, are right, Aro will surely be only too willing to join her to the Guard of Volterra."

I really didn't like the sound of that, but it bought me at least one more year of existence. I could learn how to control my thirst around humans like Carlisle and his clan and I would try and find Fred, see how he was doing.

"Wonderful," Carlisle said and looked pointedly at Jasper. He quickly moved to my other side, putting restraining hand on my shoulder. Felix moved back to Jane's side instantly. The two others joined them and bored expression was back at Jane's face.

"One year," she reminded, before turning her back to us. They exited the clearing majestically but quickly.

When there was no more sign of grey cloaks I let out a breath that I hadn't realize I was holding.

It was a mistake, as it turned out and first of many I was to do on that same day. The human girl's impossibly alluring scent was stronger than ever. I noticed that she was breathing faster, like in gasps, and had buried her head into redhead's chest. Her long hair fanned all around her and I could see sliver of her white neck exposed. Redhead turned his head sharply at me and let out a snarl. It was hard to believe that he had actually winked at me only a few moments ago.

"First rule for your survival," Jasper said coldly from my side. "Learn to control your thirst."

"Jasper," Esme, Carlisle's mate, admonished. "She's young."

"I know that, Esme. That's why she needs to learn."

"Jasper's right." It was the mind-reader. He looked at me as he said: "Bree, if you want to stay with us – and alive – you really need to do as we say and if you as much as much as take a whiff at Bella unsupervised-." He didn't finish his threat, but he really didn't have to. I was pretty sure I got the idea anyway.

Trying to ignore the scorching thirst in my throat I spoke aloud for the first time for what seemed like days.

"I will do anything you say, I promise. Just let me live."

"Good." That was Carlisle again. "The first and the most important rule is this: we don't hunt humans."

_A/N: This chapter is short, and although the next ones will be a tad longer, I am purposefully keeping them in moderate lengths in order to keep the story moving. _

_Your reviews are greatly appreciated!_


	2. Chapter 1

_A/N: Stephenie Meyer owns everything in Twilight Universe. I just play around in it._

**1**

Holy. Crap.

When Carlisle said that they didn't hunt humans, he actually meant every word. As in_ they feed only from animals. _

Jane's comment about vegetarians made a little more sense now. But seriously, what was wrong with these people? Why would they willingly want to torture themselves? Not hunting humans at all and keeping one with the sweetest smelling blood possible around like she actually was one of them – I couldn't get my mind around it.

In the short time we had when travelling back to their residence – they called it _home _- Carlisle had explained some things to me. He told that the mind reader was called Edward and the human was his _girlfriend. _

"Although there may be some changes in their relationship status in the near future," the little pixie like girl said, smiling widely. Edward frowned at her, but couldn't quite contain the crooked smile that played on his lips. I didn't know what that was about.

The big, dark-haired guy was Emmet, and although I had been afraid of him at first, I now kind of liked him. He challenged me into arm-wrestling match "as soon as I felt up to it" and earned a back handed slap to his head from his mate Rosalie, the tall, beautiful blonde girl.

Alice was the small girlish vampire and Carlisle explained that she could see the future. I didn't even try to get my mind around that. Jasper was apparently what Carlisle called "an empath" and had trained new born vampires in _civil war._ Whoa.

And get this: Carlisle had a day job in a hospital. He was a surgeon in Forks General Hospital.

It seemed as the yellow eyes were the least freaky thing in this coven. No. Not a coven. _A family. _ I didn't have a lot human memories, but I did remember that it had been a while since I'd had a family, and even then it wasn't exactly a piece of American Dream what we were living. So, when Carlisle proudly told me that to Forks Community they were known as the Cullen Family, it didn't hit me as astonishing as all the other stuff he told about their life style.

Just as we got to the huge house of wood and glass with enormous garage on the ground floor, Carlisle's cell phone rang. He was officially the first vampire I had seen with one, although I had a feeling that I was about to see much more. He stepped further away, away from the hearing distance.

After ending the call he turned to Esme and the others. "It was Billy Black. They need me in LaPush. I'll be back as soon as I can." He kissed Esme and vanished. A moment later garage door opened and a sleek, black Mercedes drove out.

"Is Jacob...?" I heard Bella ask in a fearful voice and Edward's soothing voice answered immediately: "He's going to be fine. Just broken bones, but you know how quickly those wolves heal."

Wolves? I didn't understand anything. Clearly Carlisle was needed for his medical skills, but who was Jacob? Apparently not a vampire.

"We'll explain everything you need to know when we get inside," Edward answered to my confused thoughts.

We were sitting in the biggest living room I had ever seen. Three of the four walls were glass from floor to ceiling, giving into a large yard that in a forest. I was sitting on one of the plush white arm chairs feeling oddly out of place. Even Bella the human seemed to belong here more than I did in my ragged clothes and bare feet. For the first time since becoming a vampire I paid attention to my clothing – it was kind of hard to miss now. The Cullen family was dressed in practical but expensive looking camping wear and not a hair was out of place. Lucky me, I was used to feel like the poor second cousin amongst other people.

I was holding my breath.

Jasper was standing motionless on my left side, tiny Alice on my right. Esme had squeezed herself into a love seat with Edward and Bella on the other side of the room. Emmett had taken over entire couch sitting sideways and Rosalie had folded herself gracefully on the floor by him. They were all watching me with different expressions.

Jasper was concentrating tightly – on my emotions, I assumed, to prevent me from attacking the human girl. Alice looked curious, but had a friendly smile on her lips. She saw that I was looking and took my hand in hers. I flinched at first, but relaxed quickly – again, by Jasper's influence.

Edward looked thoughtful. He had his arm around Bella, who looked like she was just short of passing out. I didn't remember what it felt like being tired, but the dark shadows under her heavy-lidded eyes brought back memories of the times I slept on the street. No amount of sleep was ever enough and my sleep was always restless – I had to stay alert for the muggers and other psychos. I remembered the ache in my weak human muscles and joints after a night under the bridge or on the shade of dark alley between the trash bins.

Although I was pretty sure that this Bella had never slept on a street, there was something in her eyes – like she'd seen things she'd rather forget. I was probably close to truth – after all, she hung with a bunch of vampires that were strong enough to take down ravenous army of newborns.

Edward looked at the girl by his side and a fond smile played on his lips.

"You could use a nap," he said into her ear, but of course every single vampire in the room heard him.

"I'm fine. I just worry about Jake," she replied quickly and straightened her posture. A weird expression flashed through Edward's eyes and his smile faltered. After a moment of contemplation he said to the rest of us:

"We'll go check Jacob and see if Carlisle needs help. " He looked straight at me, narrowing his eyes. I could tell that he was probing through my mind. "It's best if we don't tempt Bree too much, she'll have enough struggle with her scent all over our house."

Bella's cheeks flushed bright red and her mouth watering smell only intensified. I had to turn my head away. "I'm sorry," I heard her saying in a small voice.

"Don't be silly, Bella," Edward said softly. "It's not your fault."

"I'll do my best to become like you," I said again to everybody. I didn't particularly like it when people spoke of me like I wasn't there at all.

The mind reader nodded at me, understanding my meaning. Then he stood up pulling Bella with him.

"Wait, wait!" Alice cried and in a flash she was gone and in the second back with two enormous shopping bags. "As far as Charlie knows Bella has been shopping all this time – surely she has to have something to take home too!"

Bella groaned loudly, but took the bags anyway. Edward kissed the top of her head and took them from her.

"Do I even want to know what I bought?" Bella asked tiredly.

"Just some summer clothes. They're all lovely!" Alice chirped and kissed her cheek.

With that the mind reader exited with his girlfriend and the tiny vampire returned back to her earlier place next to me.

"It's going to be hard work," Jasper said to me and Alice squeezed my hand she was again holding.

"Why don't you start by telling us your story?" she suggested.

So, I did. Taking a deep breath and immediately realizing my mistake I struggled a moment before I could start.

I didn't have clear memories from my earlier human life and the moments right before my change were equally dim, but I told them everything I remembered. Well, almost everything. I left out the parts were Diego had kissed me and what Riley had said about his feelings towards me. Those memories were mine and no one else's. It wasn't like they'd held any importance to them anyway.

"So the Volturi was involved in Victoria's plans after all," Jasper mused after I had finished my story. "Why am I not surprised?"

"What is Volturi?" I asked tentatively, from nobody especially. Esme was the one who answered.

"They are the oldest and most powerful vampire family there is. Aro is their leader and he is thousands of years old. He shares the throne with two other ancient immortals, Caius and Marcus. Jane, Alec, Felix and Demetri – whom you met earlier today – are Aro's "children", if you will.

"The Volturi acts as the law enforcer in vampire world. What you witnessed today was them doing exactly that – enforcing the only law we vampires have."

I must have looked as stupid as I felt, because Jasper asked from my side:

"Do you know what that is, young one?"

"Keep humans in the dark?" I said in unsure tone.

"Very well."

"But Bella – how does she know?" I asked. Actually, the correct question would have been "how is she still alive".

"It's a long story, which she herself can tell you later on. " Jasper's tone was final, so I didn't dare to ask further questions.

Emmett let out a loud quaff. "She really is one tough cookie – did you hear what she did when Edward and Seth were fighting against Victoria and Riley?"

Jasper shook his head and chuckled. It was an odd sound. "Yes. Somehow that didn't surprise me at all. Stabbing herself in the presence of three ravenous vampires – sounds exactly like Bella."

"She is going to be an awesome newborn," Emmett laughed. His words brought back the ones Jane had said earlier today – that Caius would be interested in hearing that Bella was _still _human. Alice answered my unasked question.

"She wants to become one of us."

"A vampire?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes. And to be honest, I really don't see any other option for her and Edward."

My mind was spinning. As a vampire you were supposed to have limitless capacity to handle multiple thoughts simultaneously – that was one of the few truths Riley had told us. And it was kind of hard to miss, anyway. I remember being pretty overwhelmed at first; being able to sense and process so many things at the same time. It was useful, though.

But now I felt overwhelmed again and not for the first time today. I tried to imagine what it would be like to spend all day with somebody who smelled impossibly luscious without being able to drain them. The thought made me shudder.

"How does he do it?" I wondered aloud.

"Again, long story and not mine to tell," Alice replied. "But we have much more important things to discuss now, anyway."

"Exactly," Jasper put in. "Like when and where you are allowed to hunt. And what."

"Will my eyes become yellow as well if I stick to your diet?" I asked curiously, although still a little bit apprehensive about Jasper's presence.

"Yes. And Bree – make no mistake; even though this all gets easier, your thirst will never be thoroughly quenched with animal blood. You will always crave for human blood, no matter how much you hunt."

"Then why do you do it?" The whole self-torturing didn't make any sense to me. I would stick to their life style because it really seemed that I didn't have any other option, but I doubted that I would ever truly understand the philosophy behind it. And even if my rational mind would be able to do that, there would be no way of convincing my blood thirsty newborn vampire side.

It was, to my surprise, Rosalie who answered my question.

"No one of use had a choice when we were turned. Craving for human blood is only one of the things that you can't help – you are utterly taken by your senses and your instinct is to follow their messages. We feel that resisting the most powerful urge of all – drinking humans – we have the control over something. Drinking from humans is a choice, Bree. And so is this."

"The problem is - " Emmetts cheerful voice continued, " – that when you are newborn, ethical issues aren't exactly at the top of your mind. It is more than easy to slip." He laughed at his own joke, even though nobody else in the room seemed to find it particularly funny.

"But we live among humans and try our best to keep up human charade. We can't afford to _slip, _ unless we want to move away immediately." Something in Jasper's voice told me that the experience wasn't exactly unfamiliar to him.

"So no one of you guys has ever killed human?" I asked in astonishment.

"I didn't say that," Rosalie answered. "Nearly all of us have tasted human blood at least once – except Carlisle, of course."

I glanced briefly at Esme for confirmation and she nodded, looking very proud. "Not once. And he is over three hundred years old."

Whoa.

"For Carlisle this whole life style is much more than just a diet. He sees the trace of human in all of us and tries to nurture that part as much as possible. For him this is about the eternal soul in each human being and he doesn't think it dies when a person gets turned into a vampire. That's why he can't kill humans. He has chosen to help them instead." Esme's voice was fond and reverent as she spoke about her mate – the same admiration shined in all of their faces.

"Do you think that too – that we have s-souls?" I didn't feel very comfortable talking about spiritual stuff like this, but somehow I felt this part was essential in order to understand their philosophy.

"Carlisle is a living example of that. If he doesn't have one then the rest of us don't have a chance either."

Jasper cleared his throat, obviously as uneasy about the subject as I was. Clearly his approach to vegetarism was much more practical than Carlisle's. I suspected that it had a lot to do with the small spiky-haired vampire on the other side of my chair.

"So – you up to a hunting trip?"

His words through fuel on the scorching flames in my throat as my thirst intensified by the human smell so potent in the air.

"Yes!" I gasped.

Without another word we were out of the door.

I didn't like elks. Their blood tasted wrong and did absolutely nothing for my thirst. Jasper suggested that I' try a carnivore, as their blood was supposed to be closer to humans'. With time I would find my favourite, he said.

As an experiment I also tasted squirrel. Wouldn't have to do _that_ again – it was repulsive and in order to quench my thirst I would have had to have at least thirty of them. _Eew._

Jasper didn't appreciate my "playing with my food" and ordered me to go after a weird, not completely disgusting scent of an animal that I wasn't yet familiar with. It turned out to be a mountain lion, which apparently was over-populating the area rapidly. Looked like we were taking over foresting as well.

Suddenly being a vampire seemed exhausting as hell.

I found myself wondering what Freaky Fred was doing this exact moment. Maybe he was feasting over the blood of an innocent college student...my mouth started to water again. I drained another lion.

"You done?" Jasper asked when I discarded the body and wiped my mouth to my already blood stained sleeve.

"Yep. I guess the craving never really goes away, does it?" I though longingly about the last _proper_ meal I'd had – just before the fight.

"It gets easier to control, but no, it never completely leaves your mind. It's part of your vampire nature."

"But if it's part of our nature, why do we have to fight it?" I asked again, just hear Jasper's insight. I found it exhilarating how easy it was to keep up a conversation while running at inhuman speed.

"We all have our motives," the Southern vampire answered cryptically. "For you, it begins with having no other choice. You either fight it or lose everything." His casual tone made me shudder. I knew that he didn't intent to be unkind. He knew how newborn mind worked.

Emmett had been right about us not giving a damn about ethics. For now, it was all about the thirst. Everything else seemed secondary. Nothing else but fear of destruction could keep me from hunting my natural prey. I wondered if even that would be enough.

I wasn't so blinded by my urges that I wasn't able to see the big picture here, though: if I wasn't able to control myself there was no way anyone – even the Cullens – could protect me.

And for the first time in a long time I realised, that I actually wanted to _live._


	3. Chapter 2

_N/A:Hey y'all. Thanks for reading. Reviews are ever so appreciated. All characters and the whole Twilight Universe belong to brilliant, talented Stephenie Meyer. _

**2**

"Ok. Next subject: _shoes_."

I had been wrong all along. Restraining from drinking humans wasn't the highest form of torture. _This_ was. Being subjected to a seemingly endless lecture of designers, fabrics, styles, make-overs, lingerie, and now, apparently shoes, made me wish for an apocalypse or sudden, merciful death. The scary part was that she seemed to actually think that I _enjoyed_ this. Just because I didn't have enough courage to interrupt her endless chattering didn't mean I wouldn't have paid just about anything to escape.

I mean, I liked Alice – she was kind and funny and sweet – but she could be very intimidating when she wanted something. And this was really at least partially my own fault. I had asked her advice to distract myself from my ever present thirst. I didn't run into the human girl very often – I suspected she felt bad for making me uncomfortable – but her scent was _everywhere. _

I had once made the mistake of going into Edward's room to find something to read and was nearly thrown over by the smell that had completely saturated the air. I had run out of the room with my hand over my mouth and nose, all thoughts of reading forgotten. Fortunately, Jasper had sensed my agony and immediately took me to hunt into a forest nearby. Still, I couldn't help the feeling of failure. I decided to start fighting the thirst, instead of merely resisting it. And I needed help.

Enter Alice.

"Show me your feet." Alice's child-like voice pulled me back to present. I gawked at her incredulously.

"What? Why?" I clutched my legs protectively.

"I need to know your size!" she answered in a voice which clearly added mental "_duh!" _in the end of her sentence.

"But I don't wear shoes!"

"You're practically a Cullen now. And the Cullens do wear shoes, believe you me."

"They slow me down when I'm running," I resisted.

"Ask Edward how much his shoes slow him down! And you are being unnecessarily difficult about this," Alice chided at me. "Now – show me your feet!"

I sighed and stuck out my left leg. Alice retreated immediately; wrinkling her nose and making me regret that I didn't try this in the first place.

"Good _God_, Bree! That thing's disgusting!"

I suppose she was right. I hadn't worn shoes or socks in ages, after losing my only pair of boots on a nightly hunting trip with Diego months ago. My feet were dirty, to put it mildly, and although I didn't necessarily need to shower after becoming a vampire, I could see where she was coming from.

"Do me a favour and _take a bath_," Alice said, throwing a soft towel at me. "And don't worry about the water bill. If someone has ever needed a bath, it's you."

Feeling slightly insulted I took the towel and retreated into Alice's humongous bathroom.

Actually, getting rid of the ragged clothing I had worn since the last night of my human life was kind of nice. I stuck my head out of the bathroom door to ask Alice if she could borrow me a change of clothes, but before I had chance to open my mouth she thrust something soft and clean into my hands.

"Give me those," she ordered, gesturing to the pile of rags on the floor behind me. I obeyed wordlessly and then closed the door again.

I had never been into a hot tub before. I by never I mean never, even when I was human. Hell, if my dad could've afforded a hot tub I doubt I would ever ended up into the street in the first place. Or maybe I would've.

It was amazing how relaxing it was. As a vampire it didn't seem likely to have tense muscles or sore joints, but apparently being a blood-crazed newborn took its toll on you. I sighed in a rare contentment and leaned my head against the edge of the tub.

I soaked myself the good part of an hour finding it nearly impossible to tear myself from the soft caresses of water and the scented soaps and shampoos and bath salts. I had nearly forgotten how nice my hair felt fresh from the shower, and the fact that my skin wasn't the least bit wrinkled even after spending so much time in the water thrilled me to no end.

I pulled on the nice, clean clothes Alice had borrowed to me and relished the feel of soft fabric against my sensitive skin. I found myself wondering what Diego would have thought, had he seen me now. With a pang I realised how much I still missed him. In fact, the feeling was just as strong as it was when we said goodbye for the last time. I could still feel his lips on mine, so cold, but so soft and warm against my equally cold ones.

I touched my lips with my finger tips, lost in my thoughts.

Until I smelt _her_. Bella. She was close, much closer than usual and I suddenly became very aware of the fact that I hadn't hunted in twelve hours. Might've as well been twelve days, or weeks.

Like on a trance I grabbed the door handle and opened the door. I was instantly assaulted by Bella's strong, undiluted scent. Without allowing myself to step out from the bathroom, I fought the impossibly strong, instinctual urge to _lunge. _ Drink. Drink. Kill.

"Bree," Bella breathed, looking both bewildered and alarmed at the same time. We were both excruciatingly aware of the fact that there was no one else in the room. No Jasper. No Alice. No Edward.

"I'm sorry...I thought Alice would be here." She explained. I really didn't care. My whole being was focused on the throbbing, blue artery beneath the frail skin of her neck. _Drain. Drain. Kill. _

From the back of my mind I heard Jasper's voice: _hold your breath – _but I was already too far gone. Small part of my mind managed to wonder why Bella was alone; where was Edward? And more importantly – why hadn't Alice foreseen this? Then that small part was silenced by the bigger part, the one that was now in charge. The blood-thirsty-newborn –part.

I registered the snarl that came from my throat and the way my muscles prepared for the jump, the way my nostrils flared as they took in every fine fibre of her scent.

And then I lunged. _No! _The shout was so loud it was hard to believe it only existed in my head.

Everything happened so quickly that even my vampire mind had a hard time comprehending it. In one moment I was flying through the air, my sole purpose to drain the human in front of me, and the next I was frozen mid-air, unable to move a muscle.

Before I had the chance to really do anything I smashed to the floor, onto the feet of horror-struck Bella Swan. I quickly closed my mouth, not daring to even exhale and shook my head violently trying to understand what just happened.

All of a sudden the house was full of voices: shouts, cries and footsteps as three dishevelled and furious vampires rushed into the room. On top of everything was Edward's desperate yell: "BELLA!" Then he had swiped her in his arms, frantically checking her for injuries.

Jasper grabbed my shoulder, rather roughly I might add, and shook me like a ragdoll.

"What just happened here?"

He was asking me?

"I-I don't know!" I cried in desperation and then promptly closed my mouth to keep myself from breathing.

"Why didn't you see this, Alice?" Edward was demanding, clutching Bella to his chest.

"I don't know – they didn't plan this!" she answered and I could tell that had she been able to shed tears, she would have been bawling by now. "Bella didn't decide to come into my room, until the second she actually did and Bree – well, she was beyond any planning the moment she smelled Bella!"

"That's not good enough!" Edward yelled. "Why did you leave her alone in the first place?" Again, they were talking like I wasn't there.

"I'm sorry," I offered lamely. "I'm so, so sorry!"

They completely ignored me.

"Why isn't anyone asking what just happened here?" Jasper raised his voice, throwing a warning glare towards his brother, who was still beside himself.

The room fell silent. I carefully lifted my head from the floor to look around me – and saw only worried, or in Edward's case, frantic faces of my new family. Carlisle was standing by my side, the fact that had gone unnoticed by me. Esme stood by the door, resting her hand on Edward's shoulder. Alice was standing between Jasper and Edward, her golden eyes huge and seemingly ready to tear up any minute. Except, they wouldn't.

"Ask Bree," the mind-reader said quietly. "She's the one who did it."

"Look, I said I'm sorry-," I started, but got interrupted immediately.

"Did what, exactly?" Carlisle asked narrowing his eyes.

"Remember what I said about her talent? Looks like she just had her first taste of it." Edward let out a bitter laugh. "And of course Bella had to be the one to witness the occasion."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she grumbled at him.

"Danger loves you, remember?" he answered.

"Hey!" I said loudly, annoyed how they had again seemingly forgotten my presence. "What was that about my _talent_? I thought you only made it up to save my butt from the crazy Italian girl."

"I didn't make it up," redhead answered shortly. "I could see that in your mind, but because you were unaware of it yourself at the moment, I didn't know what it was."

I suppose that made sense.

"So . Now that I have obviously found it – would you mind telling me what it is?" Of course, asking for direct answer was stupid. He answered with another question.

"Tell me – what did you think right before you – attacked?" I could see him shuddering at the thought. Bella pressed her hand on his cheek.

"I didn't really think _anything_ . Just focused on my – excuse me –prey." After thinking half a second, I added as an afterthought: " When I was already in the air, I remember thinking "NO" very forcefully – although it was more like a subconscious thing." I had used all the air left in my lungs.

Thankfully, Edward seemed happy for my answer.

"When you thought NO, that stopped you mid-jump, right?" I nodded mutely. "Well, it stopped us too. Literally, I could hear your thoughts and was about to run up the stairs, but found that I couldn't."

I listened, stunned out of my mind.

"But I felt nothing," Bella said shyly. "I saw what happened to Bree, but ..."

"I'm really not surprised. Your mind is closed to my and Jane's and Aro's gifts as well."

I had about a thousand questions running through my brains, but I didn't have any air left. And then I remembered the mind-reader.

_But what is it? My gift – what does it actually do?"_

"I don't know yet. I suppose we'll find out its full potential in time – although I hope my fiancé is in a safe distance from you when that happens." Edward's answering tone was dry.

We were all startled by Esme's joyous cry: "Edward! Fiance – did you and Bella-? Oh this is _wonderful! _"

"And I get to plan the wedding!" Alice shouted.

Carlisle took one long stride across the floor to Edward who was now beaming from ear to ear. Bella was bright red on her face and I lowered my gaze quickly.

"That's marvellous news, Son!" he exclaimed. "And Bella – of course you already are nothing less than a daughter to me!"

I rolled my eyes at the rather unexpected turn of the atmosphere. No one seemed to be interested in my supposedly staggering talent anymore – whatever the hell that was – and even Jasper left my side to join the well-wishers, who had effectively blocked the happy couple out of my sight.

He was actually engaged to her – as in engaged to be _married_? And was Bella going to remain human until the wedding? And what about the...consummation part? Assuming of course that they hadn't already taken care of that...

I was mortified when I realized that Edward, although still enveloped in the group hug, could most likely hear my inappropriate thoughts as clearly as I'd shouted them for everybody to hear. Thankfully he chose to ignore them.

I mean, clearly they were in love. That was kind of hard to miss with all the doey-eyes and gooey words they exchanged whether or not they had an audience. And clearly Edward had some kind of, well, _inhuman _self control, as he spent nearly every night in her room. Doing Lord knows what.

Ok. Not going there.

But still – how could someone go so much against their nature that actually fell in love with their natural prey? From what I'd heard, Bella actually smelled especially alluring to him – more potent for him than anyone else. And he had actually _tasted_ her blood...

Oops. Not going there either.


End file.
